Written in the late 4th Century A.D., the Breviary of Festus was intended as a kind of summary and manual of Roman history from the city's founding, in 753 B.C., to the reign of the emperors Valens and Valentinian-a span of over 1,100 years. Much of the book's focus is on the military achievements of the Romans, especially their ceaseless warfare in the East, with the Arsacid Parthians and their successors the Sassanid Persians. This edition is designed...